The Four Color Media Monitor

In news I'd missed from last month, Task and Purpose reports the USA military is publishing a comic biography of Sergeant William Carney, the first Black army fighter in the mid-19th century to receive the Medal of Honor for his heroism, and it's being written by a notable veteran scriptwriter:

As the soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment stormed toward Fort Wagner, South Carolina, the soldier carrying the American flag fell.

It was July 18, 1863, at the heart of the Civil War.

Charging with the 54th was Sgt. William Carney, who saw the colors fall. He picked up the flag and carried it forward, reaching the wall of the fort, where his comrades rallied around him.

Soon, the regiment’s position became untenable, and the order was called to retreat.

Shot several times, Carney held the flag aloft as the unit dropped back, returning it to Union lines.

Years after the war, his actions in the assault would be recognized with the Medal of Honor, making Carney the first Black American soldier to earn the nation’s highest award for valor.

Carney’s bravery — and that of the all-Black 54th Massachusetts — was retold in the 1989 movie “Glory,” in which Denzel Washington played a soldier based on Carney, Pvt. Trip.

Now, Carney will get his own comic book, the latest in the Medal of Honor series produced by the Association of the United States Army.

The Carney issue is the 24th produced by AUSA, an ongoing project by the organization that recruits major stars in the comic book world to tell the stories behind Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers. The script was written by Chuck Dixon, whose past work includes “Batman” and “The Punisher.” The cover was created by Wayne Vansant, whose work has appeared in “The ’Nam” and “Savage Tales.” Color was by Peter Pantazis, who worked on “The Justice League” and “Superman” series, while the lettering was by Troy Peteri, who worked on “Spider-Man” and “X-Men.”

Well that's pretty admirable, and goodness knows how many left-wing creators by contrast have refused to work on projects like these, even if it puts their sincerity under a question mark along with their patriotism. This is a highly appreciable project. But according to the following, there was, unfortunately, some controversy that preceded it a few months ago:

Carney’s story was caught up in controversy in March when Department of Defense officials removed dozens of webpages from the Pentagon’s official websites that covered the histories of notable non-white or female service members. Carney was among dozens of past military heroes — including the Navajo Corps Code Talkers, baseball legend Jackie Robinson, and the Tuskegee Airmen — whose stories were removed from the site amid a review aimed at identifying diversity, equity, and inclusion material.

A 2017 article, “Meet Sgt. William Carney: The first African-American Medal of Honor recipient,” was removed from the Pentagon’s Defense.gov domain. The page appears to have been restored as of April 24. The same article had remained on the Army’s official website.

What if it turned out left-wing staffers were responsible for removing the historical information? But, if right-wingers were, they sure paved the road to hell with good intentions by giving leftists ammunition to use against conservatives. Leftists who don't actually care about good deeds, but rather, about tasteless ideologies, and that was the whole problem with how things were handled under the Biden administration. Something tells me even now, many leftists won't thank Dixon for taking up a positive assignment like this, and simultaneously, chances are very high a movie like 1989's Glory wouldn't be made by Hollywood today.

Dixon deserves some applause and credit for developing a GN detailing the history of a famous figure like Carney, as do the artists involved, and maybe it's time liberal creators show some willingness to work on such comics projects too for a change, without letting their biases get in the way.

Labels: good artists, good writers, history, misogyny and racism, msm propaganda, politics

Focus Taiwan announced there's a new exhibition on both Taiwan's comics history opening alongside Japanese this week

An exhibition tracing the roots of Japan's manga culture and Taiwan's comic book scene will open Saturday in Kyoto, Japan.

"A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan's Youth, organized by the Preparatory Office of the National Taiwan Museum of Comics and the Kyoto International Manga Museum, with support from Taiwan's Ministry of Culture (MOC), runs from May 24 to June 24 at the Kyoto museum.

The exhibition will delve into modern history to examine the similarities and differences between Taiwanese and Japanese comics from historical and political contexts, according to the event organizers.

It also showcases comic book artists and editors who resisted political and historical influences to create new forms of expression, organizers said.

Well, hope they have what it takes to resist China's influence. Communism, along with Islamofascism, are just some of many bad ideologies that have really brought this world down, and those artists and publishers who can stand firmly by their products are doing a world of good, which all who care about freedom even in comics must be willing to defend.

Labels: Europe and Asia, exhibitions, history, manga and anime, museums, politics

USA Today says Scott Adams, the cartoonist who created the Dilbert comic strip 36 years ago, has prostate cancer, and may not last much longer:

Scott Adams, creator of the "Dilbert" comic strip, is revealing he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer like former President Joe Biden – but he does not have long to live.

During a live stream on May 19, the cartoonist, 67, revealed that like Biden, he has also been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to the bone. "My life expectancy is maybe this summer," Adams said. "I expect to be checking out from this domain sometime this summer."

Adams, who said he has been using a walker for months, went on to detail how he is "always in pain" and doesn't "have good days," telling viewers, "Every day is a nightmare, and evening is even worse."

That's certainly too bad, and while I do think Adams screwed up badly with commentary he made a few years ago about racial issues, which led to his strip being dropped by various newspapers, he could apologize and redeem himself if he wants to, and I hope he does or has.

He also explained he did not share his diagnosis earlier because he did not want people to think of him differently. When he noticed that some viewers watching the stream were having a "tough time" with the news, he told them, "Nothing lasts forever."

No, of course not. Though if we took that statement and applied it to Marvel/DC's situation, it's regrettable they've lasted this long, to the point where whatever made them work was destroyed by wokeness in the worst ways possible.

Anyway, terribly sorry to hear Adams is suffering that badly, and no telling how much longer he'll be around as a result. It reminds me of how the late artist George Perez passed on, and he told that he knew he didn't have long to live either.

Labels: comic strips, history, misogyny and racism, politics

A few weeks ago, the pretentious Comics Beat published a smear piece by the director of NY's Cosmic Con, against what he perceives as "toxic fandom". But something tells me he's not taking issue for the right reasons. Let's see what he says here:

No one goes into comics for the big bucks. Creators were happy to share their personal anecdotes and thoughts with readers who loved comics like they do.

There were still industry controversies fans talked about, of course—how Siegel and Shuster were treated horribly by DC, how Jack Kirby and Stan Lee fell out, how Marvel kept changing editors in chief—but you had to buy The Comics Buyer’s Guide or Alter Ego to learn about them.

And there were always vocal fans. When a new Batman movie was announced, and fans thought that having zany director Tim Burton and comedy actor Michael Keaton meant it was going to be campy like the 1966 TV show, they had to write in to their local newspaper to protest.

When Hal Jordan became Parallax and destroyed the Green Lantern Corps, the fan group H.E.A.T. (Hal’s Emerald Advancement Team) wrote angry letters to DC and took out an ad in Wizard magazine. (The internet existed back then, but it was excruciatingly slow and mostly just screamed at you.)

And is that meant to imply it was okay to degrade Hal for the sake of PC directions that never led to any convincing or organic character drama when Kyle Rayner became the replacement? I fail to understand the point here, but it's not hard to guess the guy would say something similar about where Marvel went with Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson's marriage, and DC went with Identity Crisis. What's annoying about this item is that it doesn't make certain distinctions between what's worth protesting and what would be better to withhold judgement upon, or just not make a big deal out of, which would have to be Burton's Batman film. If that matters, did the fans in question actually intend to see it, no matter the end result of the price of tickets? Well maybe that was, in a way, a mistake. If they didn't think the film was going to take a serious approach and keep the sense of humor secondary, then why make such a fuss? Because they're terrified the end result would only worsen the wider public's perception of comicdom? Please. It should be noted that even novels and theater plays can be affected by the outcome of a film adaptation, but shouldn't be, and that's why, if you really love the source material, then that's all you need. Why make everybody think you're going to throw away money on a movie you might otherwise have no use for?

Sharing opinions, whether positive or negative, required time and effort. Because of that, fans had to take the time to think and express themselves in a way that’d get attention. Even when irate, they had to be thoughtful, constructive, and civil.

Then came the internet and social media. “Social media has certainly enshittified fandom as much as it has everything else in the 21st century,” Mark Waid told me in an email. “There’ve always been brickbat-throwers out there, but when they had to actually write a letter and buy a stamp, you didn’t hear from them as much. Once all they had to do was open a Twitter account, the horse was loose in the hospital.”

I wrote to Mark after reading George R.R. Martin’s blog post, where he lamented that “the era of rational discourse seems to have ended.” Martin started out as a comic book fan. His first published work was a fan letter in Fantastic Four #20, and he’s credited with being the first attendee of the first comic con. Over the years since he’s seen fandom change, and unfortunately not for the better.

“Toxicity is growing. It used to be fun talking about our favorite books and films and having spirited debates with fans who saw things different,” he wrote. “But somehow in this age of social media, it is no longer enough to say, “I did not like book X or film Y, and here’s why.” Now social media is ruled by anti-fans who would rather talk about the stuff they hate than the stuff they love, and delight in dancing on the graves of anyone whose film has flopped.”

This new fandom, which has come to be called toxic fandom, is still just a subset—many more people buy a comic than post angrily about it—but it’s a loud and unpleasant one. Entitled, addicted to outrage, and harmful to the very industry they claim to care about.

Look who's talking. The kind of people who vehemently refuse to defend the creations of the people whose legacies they followed up upon, be it Mary Jane Watson, Scarlet Witch, Jean Loring, Sue Dibny, Karen Page, and of course, the other superheroes themselves besides Wanda Maximoff, and simultaneously, the man writing this cheap piece won't suggest the alleged fans try boycotting books that don't meet their favor instead to send a message. He also doesn't acknowledge that there's certain creators who've engaged in reprehenisble behavior, including Waid, who was sued several years ago by graphic novelist Richard Meyer for tortious interference in a deal with Antarctic Press. Or how about Dan Slott's worst conduct in any medium? How come creators are exempt? If that's how it's going to be, this is just another of victimology in motion.

Each Cosmic Con centers on a theme, and for our last show this past February, the theme was “Battling Hate.” We especially wanted to highlight how, from the industry’s early days, Superheroes fought against fascism and intolerance, to over eight decades of stories mixing in adventures, suspense and thrills with a healthy dose of morality. Helping define right from wrong, in the minds of both young adults and teenagers, setting the stage for “Truth, Justice and the American Way”. We had a “Battling Hate” panel, featuring an all-star lineup: Rags Morales, Ann Nocenti, Alisa Kwitney, Danny Fingeroth, Keith Williams, and Joe Illidge.

Uh oh. They lined up the artist who illustrated the offensive Identity Crisis miniseries, and hasn't shown any genuine remorse for the misogyny it's accused of emphasizing? Gee, that sure is some dedication to "battling hate" right there. I'm not even convinced he's dedicated to battling anti-Israel hate if that's the kind of people he's associating with, and come to think of it, if Fingeroth and Nocenti didn't object to Morales' presence either unless he disowned the garbage, then they too have disappointed. It's also vital to note that, in sharp contrast to yesteryear, today's comics don't battle against the fascism and intolerance of Islamic terrorism, and if that continues to be the case, and nobody argues why it's vital to tackle such issues, then the Cosmic Con panel's "message" falls flat.

We also produced a con-exclusive “Battling Hate” comic. I’d thought it was an easy enough message to get behind (it wasn’t political in any way), but when I reached out to writers and artists to contribute, many were willing to share their stories and thoughts with me, just not in print.

These industry veterans told me that on many occasions they’ve received online backlash and personal attacks, so they just stopped sharing anything beyond whatever project they were promoting.

Roy Thomas, a fan-turned-pro who went on to become an industry legend, cordially declined participating in the comic. “I received quite a bit of toxic hate beginning last April when it was announced that I’d be credited in Deadpool & Wolverine as co-creator of Wolverine,” he wrote to me. “It made me determined…[to avoid] a con where I might find myself in the company of the people who had attacked me.” He’s written an article about the ordeal for an upcoming issue of his own magazine, Alter Ego #194.

This soft-spoken, erudite, 84-year-old man has been bullied into silence. And because of that, the rest of us are missing out on a treasure of stories and knowledge. There aren’t many Bronze Age creators left, every day we lose some of that history.

And this too obscures the more exact picture regarding Thomas' case. Some of the people who were ragging on Thomas began with the widow of Len Wein, and didn't stop there. I may have spotted the awful Dan DiDio attacking Thomas too on Facebook when this was brought up. Somehow, it's just like DiDio to throw a more decent veteran like Thomas under the bus. In any event, the guest writer's failure to consider what industry insiders think of Thomas is dismaying.

“The intensity of fan reactions was different in the 80s and 90s,” Ann Nocenti told me. “Fans would send passionate letters, sometimes up to six pages, single spaced. The language and context were more moderate, because fans who took the time to write or type their grievances, were aware that no one would read their comments if they were nasty or profane. The internet brought anonymity. Now comments can devolve into profane tirades, and no one can call them out. Since there is no accountability, some feel they can get away with being vulgar and offensive.”

“Embattled pros who aren’t white dudes like me,” Waid notes, “I know how much worse they get it. When I was embroiled with that nuisance suit a few years ago that involved ComicsGate, younger creators were privately sharing with me incidents [and] posts…they had received from æfandom,’ and they were plentiful and…repulsive.”

“Yeah, it’s easy to say ‘well, they should just ignore that stuff,’ but the newer you are at this, the more you depend on social media for promotion. It’s a necessary evil, and most contemporary creators don’t have the luxury of walling themselves off absolutely from social media.”

Gee, sounds like Waid's implying these "toxic fans" only go after racial minorities, and that their bile has nothing to do with lack of story merit whatsoever. But what about when Ethan Van Sciver was attacked in the past decade? And I ask that as somebody who doesn't really care for his work. Waid's just making clear he's unrepentant for any attention the Comicsgate campaign's called to wrongful practices in the industry, and refusal to take responsibility from within is practically what enabled men like Neil Gaiman to get away with their terrible deeds for years.

This culture of incivility has migrated from the virtual to the real world, and, sadly, even from fans to some professionals. Larry Hama is a third generation Japanese American and a Vietnam vet. When he first started writing the property he’s most known for, G.I Joe “I was called ‘a fascist’ by a fellow professional. It was during a public event, in front of colleagues and my wife.” When Larry asked the guy if he bothered to read the books, he answered, “I don’t need to read them to know what they’re about.”

When we forget that the creator we’re interacting with is a human being, and when we insult, harass, or intimidate them, or when we see others do it and say nothing, we all lose out. We miss out on their stories, opinions, and tips about the very thing we love. Shutting down our “primary sources” makes fandom a less pleasant place and comics a less fun hobby.

The first recorded Toxic Fan incident that I am aware of involved Jack Kirby. Back in the days of Simon and Kirby working out of Timely (Later Marvel) offices, writing Captain America stories trouncing Fascists and Nazis. Apparently, some Toxic fans (Supremacists, in this particular case) took issue with that and called the Timely office, spewing curses and threats. According to legend, Kirby took the call and in the tense exchange, was threatened in being beaten to a pulp if the “fan” was ever to meet him at a street corner. Kirby offered to run down to the corner and resolve this dispute at the nearest street corner. Co-workers mention that Kirby ran downstairs in anticipation of a fight, just to have this particular caller chicken out.

The guest writer loses all credibility when he claims pro-National Socialist demonstrators were "fans" of a company with Jewish founders, and comics with Jewish creators. And Capt. America was written as an anti-fascist combatant right from the very start of the Golden Age series; the way the Comics Beat guest writer puts it, you'd think Cap had been created several years earlier. I do realize even today, there's all sorts of mental cases out there who could inexplicably buy the products and creations of people with Israeli ancestry, but even so, that's not the case in Kirby's time at all. These were monsters who opposed any negative portrayal of their oh-so precious totalitarians during WW2. I hesitate to think how it would turn out today, if anybody so much as dared to take a negative position on Islam, and there were some examples during the Golden Age of comics. Something I'm sure the guest writer would otherwise fail to address today, if it matters.

All that aside, where has this writer been in the past 2-plus decades, when Joe Quesada spared no expense destroying everything Cap was meant to stand for, making the USA into a scapegoat post-911? Since then, the very image of Captain America even as a costume has been degraded for the sake of far-left political ideologies, while only so many apologists stood idly by as Jewish creations were desecrated for the sake of this slop. One more reason why it's pathetically cheap to scapegoat Comicsgate.

Some of the commentors saw through this shoddy item, and one said:

This article sucks because I was interested to hear what the panel was like and what those people had to say about battling hate. You keep quoting mark waid for some reason. The Roy Tomas claim seems flimsy. Nobody in this article was silenced and if they were you didn’t talk about it. If you’re talking about backlash you receive from a controversial move you made in a magazine that you publish you’re not exactly being silenced and that’s the only example you used to prop up your click bait article title. It doesn’t seem like we’re missing out on any comics. Hearing what the panel had to say unfiltered would be an actually interesting read. Is there a video or transcript?

Probably not. And the writer's unlikely to take any issue with Comics Beat's own wrongdoings. Another said:

This article is a disgusting travesty- for one thing, it speaks volumes that it has a credit by Heidi MacDonald before revealing it’s by the showrunner of Cosmic Con- but the fact that it implies any criticism of professionals is akin to hate speech is bad enough. Roy Thomas has been an outspoken conservative for decades- which is his right- and says things in print (!) like he refuses to capitalize “Black” in “Black people” until “White” for “White people” gets equal capitalization. Thomas’s Alter Ego features regular contributions from journalist James Rosen, who was too extreme for FOX NEWS (!), and now works for Newsmax, a conversative channel that pushes the great displacement theory that immigrants are here to steal votes from White people.

It’s nonsense. Thomas and his manager John Cimino have repeatedly posted that they’ve received death threats; it’s a deflection tactic to move attention away from blatant and disgusting credit theft. I’m amazed there’s no mention in this article about the repeated racial and sexist attacks on creators that have continued for years, especially increasing in modern times with middle aged white male comic fans who complain that comics have gotten “too woke”.

“This soft-spoken, erudite, 84-year-old man has been bullied into silence.” It’s disgusting but also rather easily disproven, since Thomas has not been bullied (called into accountability for your deeds is not bullying), and certainly hasn’t been SILENT as his upcoming issue (great it got a plug in this article! THAT’S being “bullied into silence”) of Alter Ego attests.

There are hateful, racist pricks in every community. As someone who actively fights against said racist pricks, I find it astonishing that online criticism against people who actively seek payment to autograph things- therefore making them public figures- makes them equate that with bullying and being silenced.

Here’s a tip: if you’re being bullied for taking positive stances against hate, screw the bullies. Get louder. If you’re curiously changing the narrative of your career and contradicting decades of previously recorded statements, guess what- people are gonna comment on that. And that’s not bullying.

Heidi, you should never have approved this bulls**t. Or at least rewrote it!

The same poster follows this up on his own blog with a longer takedown. Another said:

I’m not disagreeing with this article. The comic fandom is insane. No creator should be attacked in such a matter that makes them feels scared for their life let alone needs police intervention.

I do find it funny you spoke with Mark Waid. Mark lead a toxic fan brigade against Antarctic Press when they were going to print Richard C. Meyer’s book. Toxic fans flooded all of the phone lines to a hospital that even emergency calls couldn’t get in or out.

Let us not forget the time Tim Doyle lead a group of fans against the Breitweisers because Mitch publicly congratulated Donald Trump for winning the 2016 election. This resulted in Betty getting multiple rape threats and the both receiving death threats.

Then there was the vandalism and threats against the Florida pizza place, Gotham City Pizza, for hosting Ethan van Sciver. Thankfully, many of Ethan’s fans raised more than enough to pay for the damages and a security system to catch further attacks.

I understand why Comics Beat wouldn’t include these testimonies of toxic fandom. These creators “voted wrong” and therefore many involved with this site would think that is justified. Most deranged and violent people often try to find justifications for their malevolent behavior.

A most considerable reason why MacDonald and company's commentaries aren't worth the bytes they're posted on. Here's one more:

Mark Waid is an absolute hypocrite. He has spread false rumors online and bashed people without proof or facts. His audacity here is ridiculous.

It's about time he retired from professional writing already, and MacDonald should do the same. This is another of the laziest propaganda pieces she and her colleagues have posted for the sake of undermining fandom's causes, no matter how legitimate or not they be. This is why her awful Comics Beat site shouldn't be read.

Labels: conventions, dc comics, Green Lantern, marvel comics, misogyny and racism, msm propaganda, politics, violence, women of dc, women of marvel

Adventures in Poor Taste interviewed Scott Snyder about how he's writing his alternate-world take on the Masked Manhunter, and telling clues are given to the political structure that's unfortunately driving this whole project. And not only that, the alternate world take on Bruce Wayne even trains with a villain:

From the beginning, Snyder envisioned Absolute Batman as more than a bold new take on Bruce Wayne — it’s a reconfiguration of the entire mythology. Gone are the familiar trappings of billion-dollar gadgets and isolated genius. In their place is a brutalist Batman forged in trauma, collective action, and uncompromising resolve.

“This Bruce just trained with Killer Croc,” Snyder said with a laugh. “He’s super smart, but he’s not the best at a lot of things… anyone could be this Batman in a lot of ways.”

That sense of accessibility is matched by a rogues’ gallery more monstrous than ever. Snyder notes that each villain is crafted to be “far more powerful than absolute Batman himself,” requiring Bruce to evolve physically, psychologically, and emotionally.

“Bane is a total reflection of Bruce…a nightmarish version,” Snyder said. “And Joker — he’s the pinnacle of everything Bruce is afraid of.”

Oh good grief. That has the effect of making Bruce sound like a villain himself in this rendition. There may be a few heroes who were trained/mentored by crooks in the past history of comicdom, but this is just too much, considering what the whole purpose of this variation on Marvel's Ultimate line is supposed to be for. On which note:

Though it wears its cape and cowl proudly, Absolute Batman is a politically-charged book — just not in the way you’d expect.

“I don’t ever want it to feel like a direct corollary to reality,” Snyder said. “The Joker in our story is a longtime Davos-attending, multi-company-owning, entrenched evil figure. But I pitched that before we had billionaires openly manipulating democracy. The world caught up.” Rather than mimic headlines, Snyder prefers to inject real-world fears into the DNA of the story.

Despite what's told about headlines, I think Snyder is mimicking them, though more specifically, as this hints, the Joker's supposed to be a metaphor for a conservative businessman manipulating the political scene to his favor. And Donald Trump has visited Davos in Switzerland, so it's not hard to guess what Snyder's alluding to. Gee, another shameless exploitation of a comics villain to serve as a stand-in for a right-winger, not unlike when Marvel did it with the Red Skull in the past decade. And it's not like even Superman was ever written as perfect at everything; there were writers in the past who'd depict Batman making mistakes and miscalculations in combat, for example. Snyder continues:

“In the main universe, Arkham isn’t scary anymore. It’s familiar,” Snyder said. “So the question became: how do you make it terrifying again?”

Wow, that's like putting down his own work, if Snyder ever made use of Arkham as a backdrop in his past stories. Some could argue he's actually implying DC editorial was imposing certain limits on what writers/artists could or couldn't depict, even though they long abandoned quite a few restraints they once had. But, if it matters, the following explains perfectly what Snyder's real goal is:

Inspired by body horror and Jacob’s Ladder, Snyder’s version of Arkham is a place of horror and disorientation, with secrets Bruce will begin to uncover beginning with issue #9.

And isn't that predictable, where they'd go in terms of themes. In addition, Snyder's even drawing out the defense of the monthly pamphlet format:

Snyder sees Absolute Batman not just as an important, relevant story, but as a statement about comics themselves.

“It’s reaffirmed everything I love about the medium,” Snyder said. “The joy of making people wait each month, of giving them something to talk about — something that hits hard and sticks.”

Snyder believes Absolute Batman, the Ultimate Universe, and creator-owned hits like Assorted Crises Events are signs of a creative explosion in a turbulent market.

“There’s a reckoning happening in comics,” Snyder said. “If we don’t focus on what makes monthly comics special, we won’t survive in a tough economy. So we’re all taking our biggest swings.”

Rebuilding Monthly Comics, One Cliffhanger at a Time

Building on the idea if monthly comics, Snyder said these titles are more important than ever before. With binge cultural dominating the zeitgeist, comics needed to collectively get back to basics in order to flourish.

“Over the last few years, there’s been this re-embracing of monthly comic book fundamentals,” Snyder said. “You see more series going for daring, big moments that are gonna get people talking… cliffhangers, reminders of what the characters are struggling with. There’s a joy to making them wait every month.”

He contrasts this with the streaming model, where entire seasons are greenlit and consumed in a single binge.

“With monthly comics, you’re asking readers to buy in again every issue,” Snyder said. “There’s a joy to that — a joy to telling your friends, ‘Did you see what happened in Ultimate Spider-Man?’”

This sure sounds like a rejection of a format where a whole story could be written up for a paperback/hardcover, and consumed in a single read, which at this point would make a far better example. I'm sorry, but I'm convinced Snyder's just serving as an apologist for a format that's now being shamelessly exploited for company wide crossovers. Besides, all the PC directions forced upon Batman over the past 2 decades have only made clear why it's time to put such comics to rest, and not act as if superhero fare must last eternally. And towards the end, this is just head-shaking:

“I never got to enjoy my early Batman years—I was so stressed out,” Snyder said. “But this time? I love it. I’m up for it.”

And, of course, he’s taking time to love the work of his many peers. James Tynion’s forthcoming Exquisite Corpses, Dennis Camp’s aforementioned Assorted Crises Events, and Matt Rosenberg’s We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us each earned enthusiastic plugs.

It sounds more like he didn't enjoy writing the Masked Manhunter in the past decade, and because of the direction taken with this alternate world rendition, suddenly, Snyder found the vision he truly embraces, which is to remove the millionaire component from Batman's background, and make Bruce Wayne more a pauper, because the wish fulfillment of being a millionaire doesn't suit the far-left vision anymore, save for select examples who're leftist themselves. It's also laughable he lectures us that monthly comics is the way you convince people to buy into the visions being sold, when it's entirely possible to sell the public on books that could be illustrated, and most importantly but missing in Snyder's argument, there needs to be convincing entertainment value if they want anybody to stick around. But nothing in what Snyder says guarantees merit, so what's his point? Writers like him are exactly what've brought down Batman, and even Daredevil. And then he associates with other overrated scribes who specialize in the horror genre. All that does is further make me feel this is somebody with an awfully narrow vision of what to offer for reading, and therefore not worth buying what he's selling.

Labels: Batman, dc comics, moonbat writers, msm propaganda, politics, sales

Cornwall Seaway News in Ontario, Canada recently did some coverage of Free Comic Book Day at an event held at a specialty store called Fantasy Realm, where it sounds like again, nobody takes issue with the pamphlet format still prevalent in publishing:

“We had dozens of people lined up to start the day,” Sauve said. “It’s a steady trickle all day, and it’s a great introduction for kids to reading—something that’s not a tablet or a phone. They can actually hold a comic book in their hand and read it.”

While digital comics have their place, Sauve believes physical books are here to stay. “The industry promotes digital, but they’ve never gone away from Free Comic Book Day with real books. Every comic is going to be somebody’s first,” he added.

Among this year’s popular picks: Minecraft, Spider-Man, Superman, and a buzzworthy new title written by Post Malone for adult readers.

Of course I don't think digital format should replace print, but as I've stressed quite a few times already, I do think it's time to retire the monthly pamphlet format and exchange it for paperback/hardcover. And this article doesn't sound like the folks at this FCBD event care about all that. And if not, then no matter how many are coming to gather some free items, there's no guarantee they'll want to spend as much as 4-5 dollars on monthly pamphlets, as continues to be the format.

Labels: conventions, msm propaganda, sales, technology

Marvel's latest event, One World Under Doom, isn't just relying on a sad cliche of crossovers. As this Newsarama article boasts, it also features LGBT protagonists, such as a son of Dr. Doom, and an alternate world take on Killmonger, the villain from Black Panther's world:

"KILLMONGER STRIKES! Is this a sign of budding romance? Or MURDER?" reads Marvel's official description of Superior Avengers #5. "The pieces are falling into place, and the team is ready for their true mission to begin. But who is playing who?"

As stated in the solicitation text above, the assassin Kristoff is currently locking lips with on the cover is in fact an alt-reality version of Killmonger, who is one of Doom's secret enemies masquerading as one of his personal Avengers.

Years ago, most publishers usually knew better than to push these kind of shock-value visuals on the audience for the sake of publicity stunts. Now, they're literally shoving it down everyone's throats, and it's clear it'll be years before they're willing to cut it out. All that aside, the advertising of this story suggesting it's some kind of murder investigation is just one more thing wrong with it. We don't need those kind of themes being repeatedly pushed on the audience either, yet this practice sadly continues as well, and that too is just as bad.

Man, as this kind of marketing makes clear, Marvel as of today sure knows how to drag down the reputation of their earlier stories very badly. Making matters worse, they even allude to titles like Superior Spider-Man from the past decade, with Dr. Octopus in Spider-Man's body, and that was awful too.

Labels: Avengers, bad editors, Black Panther, crossoverloading, Fantastic Four, golden calf of LGBT, golden calf of villainy, marvel comics, moonbat writers, msm propaganda, politics